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Quantifying the role of pollinator mediated selection in the evolution of pollination syndromes in Silene (Caryophyllaceae). 

Another focus of my research program is trying to understand the selective forces responsible for the evolution of pollination syndromes.  I am involved in an ongoing collaboration with Dr. Charles Fenster on a long-term field study to address the evolution of and degree of specialization between the animal visitors to three related species of Silene that differ in their floral design and reward system. Silene virginica has red tubular flowers that are primarily hummingbird pollinated. S. virginica’s two closest sister taxa are Silene stellata, which has white bowl flowers that are initially receptive at night and are first visited by noctuid moths and by bumble bees during the day. Silene carolinianaappears to be visited primarily during the day and clearwing hawkmoths and Bombus are some of the common visitors. We are examining the role of pollinators as selective agents utilizing three approaches. First, we are estimating pollinator importance in terms of both male and female function. Second, we are conducting cohort phenotypic selection studies across years for both S. virginica and S. caroliniana. Third, we are conducting a series of single and multi-trait floral phenotypic manipulations for each of the three Silene species. Thus we hope to provide a deeper understanding of the validity of the pollination syndrome concept as well as the selective processes responsible for the origin and maintenance of floral traits in the three divergent, yet closely related species of Silene. This work also addresses the importance of maintaining habitat to allow critical associations between plant species and their pollinators to help preserve species biodiversity.

Relevant Articles:

Castillo, D.M., A.A.R. Kula , M.R. Dudash and C.B. Fenster. 2014. Invasive Silene latifolia may benefit from a native pollinating seed predator, Hadena ectypa, in North America. International Journal of Plant Sciences 175: 80-91

Kula, A.A.R., D. M. Castillo, M. R. Dudash and C. B. Fenster. 2013. Choices and consequences of oviposition by a pollinating seed predator, Hadena ectypa (Noctuidae), on its specialized host plant, Silene stellata (Caryophyllaceae). American Journal of Botany 100(6):1-8.

Castillo, D.M. A.A.R. Kula , K.A.D. Fenster, C.B. Fenster and M.R. Dudash. 2013. Specialist pollinating seed predator exhibits oviposition strategy consistent with optimal oviposition theory. Journal of Ecological Entomology 38: 164-172.

Reynolds, R.J., A.R. Kula, C.B. Fenster and M.R. Dudash. 2012. Variable nursery pollinator importance and its effect on plant reproductive success. Oecologia 168: 439-448.

Dudash, M.R., C. Hassler, P. Stevens, and C.B. Fenster. 2011. Experimental floral and inflorescence trait manipulations affect pollinator preference and function in a hummingbird pollinated plant. American Journal of Botany 98: 275-282.

Reynolds, R. J., M. R. Dudash  and C. B. Fenster. 2010. Multi-year study of multivariate linear and nonlinear phenotypic selection on floral traits of hummingbird-pollinated Silene virginica. Evolution 64:358-369.

R. J. Reynolds, M. J. Westbrook, A. S. Rohde, J. M. Cridland, C. B. Fenster, and M. R. Dudash. 2009. Pollinator specialization and Pollination Syndromes of three related North American Silene. Ecology 90: 2077-2087.

Fenster, C. B. W. S. Armbruster and M.R. Dudash. 2009. Specialization of flowers: Is floral orientation an overlooked first step? New Phytologist 183: 502-506.

Fenster, C. B., G. Cheely, M. R.  Dudash and R. J. Reynolds. 2006. Nectar Reward and Advertisement in Hummingbird-Pollinated Silene virginica, (Caryophyllaceae).  American Journal of Botany 93: 1800-1807.

Kephart, S. R. J. Reynolds, M. Rutter, C. B. Fenster, and M. R. Dudash. 2006. Pollination and seed  predation by moths on Silene and allied Caryophyllaceae: Evaluating a model system to study the evolution of mutualisms. New Phytologist 169: 667-680.

Fenster, C. B., W. S. Armbruster, M. R. Dudash, J. Thomson and P. Wilson. 2004. Pollination syndromes and the evolution of floral diversity. Annual Reviews of Ecology and Systematics 35: 375-403.

Dudash. M. R. and C. B. Fenster, C. B. 2001. The role of breeding system and inbreeding depression in the maintenance of an outcrossing mating strategy in Silene virginica(Caryophyllaceae). American Journal of Botany 88: 1953-1959.

Fenster, C. B. and M. R. Dudash. 2001. Spatiotemporal variation in the role of hummingbirds as pollinators of Silene virginica. Ecology 82: 844-851.

Armbruster, W. S., C. B. Fenster, and M. R. Dudash. 2000. Pollination “principles” revisited: specialization, pollination syndromes, and the evolution of flowers. Det Norske Videnskapsakademia. I. Matematisk Naturvidenskapelige Klasse, Skrifter , Ny Serie 39: 139-148.

Dudash, M. R. and C. B. Fenster. 1997. Multiyear study of pollen limitation and cost of reproduction in the iteroparous, Silene virginica. Ecology 78: 484-493.

ABOUT ME

WELCOME! I am a Professor and Head of the Department of Natural Resource Management at South Dakota State University.

I am also Professor Emeritus at University of Maryland College Park in the Department of Biology. 

This is an Unofficial Website, which does not represent official views or opinions of any University that I have been affiliated with during my academic career.

Link to Google Scholar Profile

I am a population biologist by training, thus my lab focuses on both the ecological and genetic factors responsible for a population’s persistence or demise. In this context the major theme in my lab is on the ecology and evolution of reproductive systems in nature. Topics we investigate include plant mating system evolution, plant-pollinator interactions including both pollinators and herbivores, demography of populations, and the role inbreeding and phenotypic plasticity play in the evolution of plant populations.  Research conducted in my lab also directly relates to the need for baseline data that may be utilized to help form successful conservation and restoration management plans for threatened taxa. 

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